Page 57 of Wrecked
“I’d prefer if you said ‘naked men’ in general,” I reply, not wanting to think of my baby sister and naked men in the same sentence.
Ellie rolls her eyes. “Ignore him. What do you need, Emmy?”
“Just letting you know that I’m going over to Cam’s house. Her dad just called and invited me over.”
I think it’s strange the way Cam’s dad is always inviting Emmy over, never Cam. I get a weird feeling every time I’m around the man, but I’ve never seen him act inappropriately.
“Okay, take your phone. And make sure it’s charged.”
“Yes sir,” she salutes, before running back down the hall. Cam lives four houses over, so it’s not usually a big deal for her to walk over.
Ellie reaches for the remote when a commercial comes on screen, bringing my attention back to the TV. She flips through a few channels before I recognize a familiar scene.
“Oh, stop here,” I request.
“What is this?” she asks as Tom Cruise grabs a microphone, dressed in his white Navy uniform.
“What is this? What is this!?” I practically shout. “Only one ofthe greatest movies of all time.” She screeches when I tickle her sides in retribution. I jump out of my bed and grab my hairbrush just as the entire cast joins Tom in one of the most epic cinema scenes of all time.
Bringing my brush to my mouth, I use it as a microphone and serenade Ellie the way Maverick serenades Charlie. “But baby, believe me, I know it!” I carry on through the rest of the scene, singing along obnoxiously with Tom Cruise.
Ellie is cracking up, tears streaming down her face as I grab her hand and pull her from the bed, forcing her to dance with me. She grabs the joint from between my fingers. “I think you’ve had enough of this, sir.” She giggles, setting it in an ashtray on my bedside table. She goes to grab the remote and flip back toNaked and Afraid, but I wrestle it from her.
“No way. You, baby, need to be educated. Educated on the need for speed.”
We spend the rest of the afternoon watchingTop Gun. Ellie is less than impressed, but enjoyed our little slow dance to “Take My Breath Away.” A weekend with Ellie always leaves me feeling content. She makes me look forward to life, to my future.
By the end of the movie, she starts to doze off, but I wake her so that she’s not too sleepy on her drive home. If something happened to her, it would end me.
“What are you doing?” she asks as I rummage through my desk drawer.
“Close your eyes.”
She giggles at my request, but closes them tight, occasionally opening one eye to peek at what I’m doing. I hid it well, worried Nathaniel would find it and ask questions I’m not ready to answer.
“How much longer?” she whines, getting impatient with this game.
“How long would you wait for me?” I tease.
“Forever,” she answers without hesitation.
“Good, that’s what I was hoping. Turn around and lift your hair.” She twists around in my bed, presenting me with her back, while lifting her beautiful, auburn hair from her neck. I take the necklace out of the box and bring it around her neck, clasping it in the back. She looks down and gasps.
“The heart of the ocean.” She gasps, staring at the blue heart diamond laying against her chest. It’s a lot smaller than the necklace from her favorite movie, but the diamonds are real, and gold is the highest quality I could find.
“That’s a promise, Pip.”
“What kind of promise?” she whispers, her eyes flooding as she looks down at her gift in awe.
I sit down next to her on the bed. “You wanted a titanic moment. This is my promise that I’ll come for you. No matter how long I have to wait, I’ll be waiting for you on the other side. I’ll take your hand and walk with you into our next life together.”
She’s crying in earnest, but she can’t help but make a joke. “Will you be in a black tux?”
“Now you’re pushing it, Pip.” I laugh, tickling her sides as she squirms. She jumps into my lap, effectively halting my tickles. This is my favorite place to have her.
“Thank you, Nate. I love it so much. I’m going to wear it forever.”
“Good, because I’m going to love you forever.”
